A regular under Bobby Gould, Phil Neal and ‘Big Ron’ the ‘Bulawayo
Bullet’ eventually fell out of favour with Atkinson and Gordon Strachan but not
before he had entertained the terraces with his dancing feet and electric pace.
On his fifth appearance he scored the winner at Highbury, three weeks later at
Highfield Road one of his best ever strikes sank the Villa 1-0 before The
Hawthorns witnessed him in his prime in the FA Cup: (forward to 1:45 mins)
Peter Ndlovu at his very best
Peter Ndlovu at his very best
On a scorching day at Selhurst Park (Wimbledon) in 1996 two goals from 'Nuddy' helped maintain City’s top flight status, a year after his treble against David James in front of the Kop. He may well have peaked that March 1995 night as knee injuries soon began to reduce his match time and hamper the pace which made him such a threat to opposition defences. Gordon Strachan explained the decision to sell Ndlovu in Rick Gekoski's 'Staying Up' written during season 1997/98. He thought Ndlovu needed a new challenge and had gone backwards at City, a fact demonstrated by just ten league starts in his final campaign. Birmingham, then in the second tier, signed him on a pay-as-you-play deal for four seasons before he moved to Sheffield United where he played until the summer of 2004.
City's first season post-Premiership saw the return of Ndlovu to
Highfield Road. Midway through the second-half Blades' boss Neil Warnock
substituted him which necessitated a jog from the Sky Blue Stand over to the
dugouts. Sky Blues' supporters accompanied this with strains of "Walking
along, singing a song, walking in an Ndlovu wonderland", a warm tribute
acknowledged by the player who lit up Highfield Road and provided some great
moments. City supporters always deliver when a former favourite returns, 4-0 down at home to Watford and John Eustace still received warm applause
as he was replaced, as has Dele Adebola on his frequent returns. Since 2001
the majority have been sold rather than submitted transfer requests so the
goodwill is there. Craig Bellamy will remain our record signing for many years
to come, there was such hope when he arrived, 12 months later few tears were
shed upon his departure.
No comments:
Post a Comment